He'll Never Learn
by EnsignAbby
Summary: A year after endgame. Seven, Kathryn, Chakotay, and Doctor get tangled in a large mess. D7, JC, C7. R R! WARNING: Fans of JC or just Chakotay in particular may be offended.


HE'LL NEVER LEARN

Author: Abby Rating: PG

Disclaimer: They are Paramount's, not mine, etc.

Summary: D/7. This is my ultimate solution for the C/7 problem. Takes place 6 months after "Endgame"

Spoilers: "Endgame", "Renaissance Man", "Human Error", and "Someone to Watch Over Me"

WARNING: If you are a J/C fan or just a fan of Chakotay in particular, you might not like this story.

Feedback: Please give your thoughts! I need feedback so I can write better stories next time! .

"..."..."..."

She sat at the candlelit table. She looked over her shoulder and caught the eye of a nearby waiter. He came up to her.

"Can I help you?"

She smiled shyly. "Yes, could you tell me what the time is? I seem to have forgotten my watch."

The waiter pulled up his sleeve and looked at the silver watch on his wrist. "It's 8:00, ma'am."

Kathryn winced at the word, remembering how much she hated being called ma'am. "Thank you. Um, may I have another cup of coffee please?"

"Right away" he said and walked off with her cup. She turned back around and drummed her fingers on the table. _An hour_? she thought, _Why would he be an hour late_? She silently cursed him. Suddenly tired of waiting for him, she picked up her purse and walked out the door, leaving the waiter standing with her cup of coffee and a confused look on his face.

"..."..."..."

Chakotay finished his glass of champagne and set it on the coffee table in front of him. He yawned and draped his arm around the shoulder of his companion. She leaned into him and sighed. They both stared contentedly at the fire. "I am enjoying this" she said and smiled gently.

"Me too" he said. He shifted to a more comfortable position and his eye wandered over to the antique grandfather clock in the corner. It's face told him it was 7:50. _Oh no_, Chakotay thought. _I have to go. Now_. He sat up quickly, causing Seven of Nine to fall sideways on the cushion of the couch.

"What? What's wrong, Chakotay?"

He smiled at her nervously. "Um, I forgot that I had some work to do at home, and I, uh, have to get it done by tomorrow morning."

She sat up and raised her eyebrow. "Do you have to leave now?"

He looked her in the eyes and took her hands. "Yes. If I don't turn that report in by tomorrow there are going to be some problems. I will come by in the morning. I promise" He kissed her softly on the cheek.

"That is... acceptable." She said, obviously still upset that he was leaving so early. She stood up and straightened her back. "Come back tomorrow at 1100 hours. I have an appointment before then."

"Done" he said. He walked to the door and grabbed his coat off the hook. He pressed the button to the front entrance and started to walk out. He paused and turned his head back in her direction. Chakotay flashed Seven a smile and then continued to walk down the hallway. The entrance door automatically shut. Seven collapsed on the sofa and let out a deep sigh.

"..."..."..."

Kathryn Janeway entered her apartment completely soaked. There had been a sudden downpour and she wasn't able to escape the rain. She plopped her wet purse and jacket on the floor and went to her room to change into some dry clothes. Having changed, she went into her livingroom and checked her computer for any messages. She had two, one from Starfleet concerning a briefing about species of the Delta Quadrant, and one from Harry Kim.

She ignored the first message and played the message from Harry. His face appeared on the screen. "Captain, I mean Kathry..um..whatever. This is Harry." Janeway let out a small giggle and let the message continue. "The Courage will be stopping by Earth for a few days and Captain Whitaker is giving us a couple days leave. I will be visiting my parents and then, if it is convenient, I would like to stop by and visit with you. Send me a reply as soon as you can. Kim out."

The familiar Federation insignia appeared on the screen and Kathryn switched the screen off. She would send a reply, but first she needed something to calm her nerves after Chakotay's third no-show. She went to her replicator, about to shout out "Coffee", but decided against it because she already had way too much that day. "Vanilla Ice Cream." It materialized in front of her and she picked it up. She carried it over to her favorite recliner and was about sit down with it when there was a chime. Someone was at the door. She let out a grunt, thoroughly displeased at having been interrupted. _Let me guess who that is_, she thought sarcastically. She shuffled over to the door and pressed the button. Chakotay stood on the other side.

"Kathryn.."

She rolled her eyes and went back to her chair. "Please, Chakotay. Spare me by skipping your apologies. I have heard enough." She stuck her spoon forcefully into the ice cream and began to eat it with a passion. "Do you know that this is the _third_ time you have stood me up?"

He cast his eyes downward and shuffled into the room. Each footstep left a small puddle of water on the floor. Obviously he couldn't avoid the rainstorm, either. "I know, Kathryn, and I'm sorry. I won't let it happen again. What can I do to make it up to you?"

Having finished her ice cream, she sat her bowl on the side table and leaned forward. "Nothing. I cannot see how we can make a relationship work if you never show up for any of our dates."

"I have been busy.."

"Oh, really? With what?"

Chakotay gulped and clasped his hands in front of him. "Well, I..."

"Spit it out, Chakotay." She was starting to lose her temper. "

"Starfleet has kept me loaded with work. I have had reports to write, speeches to give, why tonight I had a meeting to attend. We got out a little late." He looked at her, hoping that she would believe him.

"You are lying! Really, Chakotay, did you think that I would buy that? I have known you long enough to know when you are not telling the truth." She stared him down with a glare. He fumbled with his fingers. She lowered her voice. "What have you been doing?"

He pretended to be totally absorbed in a painting across the room.

A thought hit her. "Are you seeing someone else?"

He sighed, and looked at her again. "I won't lie to you, Kathryn..."

"Oh! But you already have! It is too late to try to be Mr. Honest now, isn't it? Tell me, who are you seeing?"

He was silent. The silence made her furious. Who could it be? The only person it could be was... no... he said that he broke up with her months ago. Still...

"Is it Seven?"

He folded his arms across his chest, apparently uncomfortable. He started stammering. "Y-Y-You see...uh... the problem here is mistrust. I-I-I remember a story that my father once told me. There once was this bear who..."

Her voice rose dangerously high. "Shut up Chakotay! Don't try to put me off with one of your stupid Indian legends. Just answer the question!!"

He was about to protest, but he thought the better of it. He gazed at the floor, unable to look her straight in the eye. "Yes. Yes it is."

"I thought so. Now get out." She pointed her finger toward the door.

"I'm sorry if I hurt you..."

"If you didn't want to hurt me, you never would have done it in the first place. Out. Now!"

His face was emotionless and pale. Turning around, he slowly made his way to the door. He exited without even looking back.

Kathryn collapsed in her recliner and exhaled a breath of air that she had been holding in. _Well so much for that relationship_, she thought, _To think, We kept together all those trying years in the Delta Quadrant, only to have it destroyed when we reach Earth_. She snorted. _Wait. What about Seven? She should know about this. She would not take it as easily as I am. I will have to tell her before she finds out on her own._ She glanced over at the clock, and decided that it was too late to call Seven, since Seven usually went to bed early. _I shouldn't wake her. If she finds out tonight, she won't be able to sleep. I will call her tomorrow_.

Suddenly very sleepy, she raised her hands above her head and let out a long yawn. She pushed herself up off the recliner. "Computer, play music selection Janeway Beta Two." The soothing sounds of Mozart filled the apartment and she stumbled off in the direction if her bedroom.

"..."..."..."

Seven stepped off the transport. She looked up at the enormous building in front of her. A large silver sign to the side read "Starfleet Medical". She never liked coming here. She always got special attention from all of the patients, doctors, and students. To them she was a walking miracle, a human saved from the clutches of the Borg. She took a deep breath and walked up to the doors.

After taking the turbolift to the top floor, she turned and came to large double doors. She stepped forward and the doors opened for her. A Bajoran secretary was sitting at a desk and was working on multiple PADD's. She lifted her head and smiled at her. "Seven! Time for another check up?"

Seven couldn't help but return the smile. "Yes. How are you, Forna?"

She sat down across from Forna. A cat with black spots jumped into her lap and Seven absentmindedly stroked it while Forna told her all about the concert she went to the night before, and how wonderful it was.

"I'm telling you, Seven, you ought to go to one of those. It's a good excuse to dress up! And the lead soprano, Kilma Harhn, she sings with such a divine voice..."

The door next to Forna's desk slid open and out stepped a familiar face. The cat jumped down out of Seven's lap and ran over to him. It begged to be held. The Doctor laughed and lifted the small cat up. He spoke in a babyish voice. "Carmen, were you being stroked by Seven? You're so spoiled..." He looked up and smiled at Seven. "How nice to see you, Seven! It's been a while. We ought to get together more often."

She stood up and strode over to him. "I saw you last Saturday. We went out for lunch..."

"Like I said," he said with a sly smile, "We really ought to get together more often." She smirked. He petted Carmen on the head and set her down on Forna's desk. He turned around and opened the door behind him. He took a step back and indicated that she should go in front of him. "Ready to go then?"

She nodded at him and went through the door. He followed close behind her.

She went down a hall with doors leading to treatment rooms. One was open and a little boy of about eight was hanging out of it. He was a strange species with hardly any nose and a down-turned mouth. His eyes were wide with amazement as he watched Seven come down the hall. She tried to ignore him. The boy's mother came up behind him and tried to pull him back into the room. He resisted her and pulled his hand out of her grasp to point at the approaching Seven. "Look Mommy! It's the Borg-lady I saw on my holodeck program!"

The Mother tried to calm him down. "It's not nice to point, my son. Come, let's sit down now."

He ignored her. "You're Seven of Nine! I've seen you in my holodeck program!"

.Seven stopped short of the little boy and glanced down at him, nervous. "Yes."

He pointed at her ocular implant. "Does that metal thing hurt?"

"No."

His mother pulled on him. "Son!"

He finally acknowledged her and turned around. She continued. "Son, you shouldn't talk to that thing."

The little boys eyes grew round with fear. "Why, Mommy? Will she... assimilate me?"

Seven's own eyes were growing rather red. She took a breath in and tried to open her mouth to say something. Before she was able to get a word out the Doctor rushed up behind her and kneeled down in front of the boy. "No. She will not assimilate you, Odro. Now, can you go back in your room and wait with your mother? There's a good boy." The boy gave the Doc a funny look and let his mother lead him back into the room. The door closed behind them.

The Doctor stood up and set his hand on Seven's shoulder. "I'm sorry you were put in a situation like that, Seven." He seemed as upset as she was.

She stood up straight. "I'm fine. I have had similar experiences." She continued walking and the Doctor continued along side her.

He motioned toward a door on her left. "Right here." She stepped in the room. There was a biobed in the center and she settled herself on it. He grabbed a medical tricorder and walked toward her. He looked her over for a few seconds and then lifted the tricorder to scan her.

"So," he said while glancing down at the readings on the tricorder, "How is life treating you? Good, I hope."

She shifted positions and answered. "I am fine. My job is.. satisfying."

He smiled. "That's nice. How are you enjoying your new apartment?"

"I am finding it hard to decorate. There is more space than I need. I hardly have much need for a dining room or a guest bedroom."

He looked up from his scans. "Sounds delightful. Much larger than your old one. I would love to see it sometime."

"Yes"

There was a pause in the conversation as the Doctor pushed some buttons and put the tricorder away. "Well, you seem to be in good order, according to the tricorder. But I would like to take a full scan of you just to be safe. You know how I am." He reclined the biobed she was sitting on and she settled herself on it. The arms closed over her and the lights began dancing across her body. Seven closed her eyes. She never was comfortable with this part of the exam. The Doctor noticed her squeezing her eyes shut and he put a hand on her shoulder for comfort. "Relax. You're alright." He felt her tense muscles loosen up and she took a deep breath in. He took a quick second to smile at her then moved to the side to check on the results that were coming in. The scans showed that there was nothing wrong with her neural system and it was moving on to her cardiovascular systems. The Doctor spoke up. "So far nothing has come up." The console beeped and announced that the scans were finished. He looked them over. "Well, I don't see any problems. You're as fit as a fiddle."

The arms retracted and Seven sat up. Her clip had come undone and her hair was falling out of it. She grabbed the loose hair and quickly fixed it. She slid off the bed and made her way to the door where the Doctor was already standing. "It has been nice seeing you Seven."

She smirked. "I get out of work early next Tuesday. We should get together for lunch."

He nodded his head. "Agreed." She started to walk out the door when he caught her by the arm. "Before then, if you need anything, medical or not, I'm here for you."

Seven looked at his hand on her arm and then up at his face. "I know." He once again nodded his head and his hand dropped to his side. "Goodbye Doctor" she said. She straightened her back and walked out of the door.

The door shut. The Doctor sighed deeply and spotted a chair in the corner. He plopped down into it and began to rub his forehead with his fingers.

"..."..."..."

Seven arrived at her apartment around the middle of the morning. She remembered that she hadn't eaten since last night so she went into her kitchen to get some food. She ordered a sandwich and a drink from the replicator, and on impulse, a bowl full of ripe strawberries. These she carried to a sunlit table near her large window. She ignored the rest of her meal and went straight for the strawberries. She popped one into her mouth and savored the sweetness of it. She was about to eat another one when her computer announced there was an oncoming transmission. Seven took a quick sip of her drink before heading into her livingroom to receive the transmission.

The call was from Kathryn Janeway. Seven smiled and pressed a button on the computer. Kathryn's face appeared on the screen. "Seven? It's good to see you. I had called a couple times before but you weren't home. I was a little worried."

Seven raised her eyebrow in curiosity. "Why were you worried? I only went to Starfleet Medical so the Doctor could give me my monthly exam."

Kathryn paused for a moment. "Are you okay?"

"The Doctor said that my scans were clear of any..."

Kathryn shook her head. "No, Seven, I didn't mean the exam. I meant... are you okay?" .

Seven gave her a strange look. "Of course. I'm fine. Why do you ask?"

Kathryn groaned and tilted her head into one of her hands. "So you haven't found out yet.."

"Found out what? What's wrong?"

Janeway lifted her head and stared at Seven on her screen. "It's about Chakotay."

Seven started to panic and her heart rate quickened. "What's wrong with Chakotay? Is he hurt? Was he in an accident? Was he.. oh my..." She looked around the room rapidly as if it would tell her what happened.

Kathryn worked in haste to slow Seven down. "No. Seven, calm down, Chakotay is fine. Nothing has happened to him."

"Then..what..?"

"It's about something he has done."

Seven had calmed down and by now was gawking at the screen. "What has he done?"

"I don't know how to tell you this..."

Seven repeated herself. "What has he done?"

Kathryn looked into Sevens eyes. She didn't want to hurt her, but somebody had to tell her. It wouldn't be right just to let her find out on her own. She finally decided to tell her straight out. "Seven, Chakotay is cheating on you."

Seven's eyes nearly popped out of her head. "Impossible. He cares for me and wouldn't do anything like that to me."

"But he has. Obviously he doesn't care for you that much." Kathryn tried to keep her own emotions from slipping into her speech.

Seven still did not believe her. "How do you know that he is cheating on me?"

"Because I saw him. I saw him with another woman." She left out the part about her being the other woman.

Seven reached over for the chair that was next to the desk and sat down into it. Her eyes were getting red and puffy. She sat there in silence for close to three minutes. Kathryn was beginning to think that she had suffered from a mental breakdown. Finally Seven's eyes came back into focus. "It doesn't matter." she said. "It doesn't matter. I don't care what he did. It was probably just a misunderstanding. When he comes back today I will tell him what I know and I will tell him that I will forgive him. I know he will promise to never do it again. And he won't do it again. Because he loves me and..."

Kathryn interrupted her. "No. Seven, he will do it again. Men like him, they do things like this and they will promise again and again not to hurt you. But they really don't care if they hurt you. I know by experience, they never learn. Even if they get caught, they will never learn."

A tear trickled down Seven's face. "I don't believe you. He will keep his promise because he..."

"Seven, listen to me! He will do it again. Chakotay will never learn. Do you hear me? He'll never learn."

The door chimed and announced the arrival of Chakotay at the door. Seven panicked and looked at the door. She turned to Kathryn on the screen. "I have to go." she said. Before Kathryn was able to get a word out Seven ended the transmission. The door chimed again and Seven shot her head up. Her breaths were coming in short gasps and she had to calm herself down. She wiped a stray tear from her eye and stood up straight. "Come in" she said.

Chakotay walked in with a smile on his face. "Good Morning, Seven. See, I told you I would be back in the morning. Did you miss me?" He strolled up to Seven and tried to give her a kiss full on the mouth, but Seven turned her head and it ended up on her cheek. She let out a small whimper. The smile dropped from his face. "What's wrong, Seven?" She backed away from him. "Seven? Tell me what is wrong."

Seven's voice was shaky. "You.." She choked back tears. "You are cheating on me."

Chakotay was pale with shock for a few seconds, but the look was quickly replaced with one of amusement. "Me? I would never cheat on you. Whoever gave you such a ridiculous idea?"

The fact that he just lied straight to her face finally broke her and she collapsed into sobs. She fell into the nearest chair and buried her face in the arm. Chakotay kneeled down next to her. "Whoever told you that I was cheating on you was mistaken. You know I would never hurt you that way."

Seven lifted her head and stared at him. Her face was red with anger and tears were streaming down her cheeks. "Kathryn told me!" she said, eyes flashing.

Without saying a word he stood up and walked away from her. She could hear him cursing to himself quietly. She pushed herself out of the chair and got to her feet. He whirled around to face her. She could tell he was very upset. His forehead was wrinkled and his mouth was turned downward. He walked back toward her. She responded by backing away from him into the kitchen. "You lied to me!" she screamed.

"Seven.." he pleaded, reaching for her hand.

She pulled her hand back and stepped to put a counter between them. "Why did you do this to me?!?" she asked.

Chakotay sighed and grabbed her two hands from across the counter and settled them in his. "Seven. I am sorry I did this to you. It was hurtful to you, and I regret that I ever did it. I hope that deep in your heart you will find a way to forgive me. I love you, Seven. And I promise that I will never do it again. I swear to you. I love you."

By this time she resumed her crying. She wasn't listening to a word he was saying. What Kathryn said kept repeating itself in her head. He'll never learn.

Chakotay stood, waiting for her answer. He was absentmindedly massaging her hands with his, as if it would help get an answer sooner. "Seven, please answer me. Do you forgive me?"

Seven decided what she must do, and she must be able to control her feelings or else she might not get through it. Suddenly her hands retracted from his and she stood up straight and placed her hands behind her back. An icy coolness spread across her face. She gazed at him blankly. "I do not." she said in her old Borg tone.

This was not the reaction Chakotay was hoping for. He took a step back, bewildered by this sudden regression in behavior. "Seven?"

She replied by walking by him and over to her door. She pressed the button and the door flew open. She turned to look at him. "I wish for you to leave."

He came over and stood next to her. "Seven, don't do this. Don't throw away our relationship like this. If you will just forgive me..."

She cut him off. "Make no attempt to see me again. Goodbye Chakotay." she said and promptly walked off to look at the view through the large window in her livingroom. She could feel his eyes on her back, then heard his footsteps as he walked out the door.

All of the emotion that she had kept inside welled up in her chest and exploded in one long sob. With nothing around her for her to balance on, she sunk to her knees and threw herself down on the floor. She pounded on the floor with her fists. Her hair came undone from its twist and fell in her face. Her tears poured down her cheeks and mingled with her hair and dropped to the carpet below.

Her breaths were ragged and Seven sucked in a deep breath of air to try to slow herself down. It worked for a split second before the tears started coming again. Wiping tears from her swollen red eyes, she pushed her body up to a sitting position. She looked around the room. Thoughts of old memories spilled into her mind. Thoughts of all that she and Chakotay used to do together. Cook together, work together, cuddle together... She doubled over in pain of realization. The entire time she was giving her whole heart to him he was only giving half of his.

She suddenly felt very lonely. She needed someone to talk to, someone who could comfort her, to tell her things would be alright. Seven didn't feel Kathryn was a possible candidate at the moment, so she decided to call her best friend...

"..."..."..."

The Doctor opened the door for the elderly woman, who took her time in making her way out. "Now Glenda, if you ever start feeling dizzy again and your medication does not work, you call me, okay?"

Glenda bobbed her head up and down, causing the curly mass of gray hair on her head to bounce also. "Yes. Doctor. Thank you for seeing me on such short notice."

He gave her a toothy grin. "You are welcome. Have a same trip home, Glenda."

She waved her little wrinkled hand and hobbled toward the double doors and eventually dissapeared behind them. The Doctor leaned on Forna's desk and folded her arms across his chest. He heaved a sigh. "She is a sweet old woman, Forna. It's sad that I can't help any more than I already have. But she came to me in the final stages, poor thing."

Forna nodded and frowned. A flashing light caught her eye and she spoke up. "Doctor, you have an incoming transmission. Do you want to take it here?"

He stood up and cleared his throat. "No, I think I will take it in my office." He gave a small nod to her and made his way to his office down the hall. When he arrived he sat himself down in his oversized chair and swiveled his personal computer around so the screen faced him. The transmission was audio only. He pressed a button. "Hello?"

He heard sniffling on the other end of the transmission, but no words. "Hello?"

"Doctor..."

The voice was unmistakably Seven's. The Doctor could have picked her voice out of a screaming crowd. "Seven? Are you okay? What's wrong?"

"Everything!" She cried and she sobbed and gasped for breath. "I need you. Could you please come over?"

He furrowed his brow. He did not like to hear her in pain. "Yes of course Seven. Where are you?"

In between sobs, she managed to say the words "At home."

"I will be right there, don't you worry."

"Thank you." she squeaked. And she ended the transmission.

He sat back. What could possibly be wrong? These days it could be any number of things. Ever since the procedure to remove the fail-safe device Seven had been a little over-emotional, and tended to react to the smallest things. _No matter what it is, I am going to be there for her. I promised her_, he thought. He quickly walked down the hall and stopped in front of Forna's desk. "Forna, do I have any appointments this afternoon?"

She skimmed through his schedule and shook her head. "No... It looks like you're free."

He was already halfway to the double doors. "Good. Because I have to make an unexpected housecall."

"..."..."..."

The turbolift door opened for him and he came to the first door on the right. He pressed the button on the side and the chime rang inside. All was silent. Then he heard quick footsteps which told him someone was running to the door.

It flew open and a sobbing Seven threw herself around his neck. He was thankful he was a hologram because otherwise it would have knocked the wind out of him. He rubbed her back with one of this hands. "It's alright, Seven. It's okay." His shoulder was getting quite wet, but he made no motion for her to move her head. "Why don't we sit down, and we can talk about it." The only reply he recieved was her muffled cries. He slowly led her to her couch, which was hard to do since she never let go of his neck the entire time.

Finally he had her settled next to him on the couch. She pulled away from him and looked at him through puffy eyes. "Thank you for coming." she whispered.

He grabbed her hand and rubbed it reassuringly. "I would have come even if I was decompiling." he said a look that let her know he was serious. "Now, tell me what happened."

She whimpered and turned her gaze to the floor. "Chakotay, he..." she paused.

The mention of Chatokay's name filled the Doctor with hatred. He grimaced and tried to push away his own opinions and thoughts of Chakotay. He cleared his mind. _It doesn't matter_, he thought, _I am here to help her regardless the situation_. "What about Chakotay?" he said.

Seven pushed out some air that she had been holding in her lungs. "He... he... he was cheating on me with another woman." The Doc's jaw dropped and he stared at her in horror. "I asked him to leave."

All of the Doctor's attempts to push his own thoughts out of his mind failed and his thoughts of hatred flooded back into it. _How dare he_! he thought, _If I had him in front of me right now I would... well.. No I wouldn't, but still, I would really love to_. _He took Seven away from me and what did he do? He hurt her the moment another beautiful woman walked his way. When Seven found out, she threw him out and he left her alone with a broken heart. Look at her! She's a total wreck! Then she called me and..._

All of his thoughts of hatred suddenly stopped. _She called me! Of all the people in the universe to turn to and she chose me!_

Seven sat there choking back the tears, waiting for the Doctor's reaction with her head bowed. She opened her mouth to say something when she felt his hand under her chin, slowly lifting it up until his eyes met hers. His face was full of sadness. "I'm so sorry." he said quietly.

His voice was so deep and sincere. She nodded her head. His arms came up around her and embraced her. She rested her head on his arm. He held her there until her tears finally dried from her eyes. Her breathing slowed, and she sunk into him. "Thank you." she murmured. "You are a good friend and you have always been there for me."

He looked down at her. "You know, I would never do anything like that to you."

She sat up and turned her head to look at him. "What?"

His eyes blinked as he suddenly realized what he had gotten himself into. His voice deepened. "I would never hurt you like that, Seven."

She nodded her head. "I know. You are my friend."

He tilted his head slightly. "Do you remember when I thought I was decompiling and I said a couple of things that were a little... uncalled for?"

She nodded her head again. "Yes."

"I said I loved you..."

"You were malfuntioning."

"Yes, but, what I said was the truth."

Her mouth opened and she scanned him wildly for any sign that would tell her that he was lying. But he wasn't. His eyes were begging for acceptance and his hands rested on her arms. He moistened his lips and continued. "I love you Seven. I have ever since we danced together at Sandrine's, probably longer. When you and Chakotay started your relationship, I was devastated. I thought I had lost you forever. And just now when you told me what he did to you, I was at the point of insanity. How could he do this to you? You deserve better, Seven. And I wasn't lying when I said that I would never hurt you like that..." His voice trailed off.

A million thoughts flowed through her head. Confusion, over-whelming joy, sadness... She had always assumed that he was off-limits, her best friend and mentor. But now it was obvious to her that there was no reason why they couldn't have been more. _Why did I settle with Chakotay_, she thought, _When the perfect friend and lover was standing there in front of me_?

The Doctor sat there watching the emotions play over her face. At first she smiled, but it changed to confused sadness. He sighed and his eyes fell to his hands that lay on her arms. _That's it, I ruined it. I knew that she couldn't possibly love me and now I just made a huge fool out of myself_. His train of thought was interrupted when Seven all of a sudden thrust herself upon him. Her lips closed on his. They pressed on his, demanding a reaction. After a moment his shock wore off and he responded. His hands crept up her arms to her shoulders and he pulled her closer to him. Her loose hair fell over him and he lifted one hand to stroke it.

They finally broke apart and the Doctor took his time to look at her. Her tears were gone, her eyes were no longer red. In fact, her blue eyes shone with an intensity that he had never seen there before. Her beautiful lips curved upwards in a wide smile. Wavy blonde curls framed her face and completed the masterpiece. She took his breath away. "You are so beautiful..." he said.

"I love you." she said as she leaned in to kiss him again.

"..."..."..."

Kathryn laughed as she poured another cup of coffee for her visitor. She set the pot on her table and settled herself back into her favorite chair. "I can't believe you did that to your captain. You know if you would have done that to me I would have taken away your holodeck rights for a week!" she giggled.

Harry shrugged. "Bernard put me up to it! He said it is a 'passage of rights' that all new officers must go through on the Courage." He took a sip of his coffee.

"And what happened?"

"He took my holodeck rights away for an entire month."

Kathryn rolled her eyes. "See? All great captains think alike!"

Harry laughed as he put his coffee down. "So, how are Tom and B'Elanna?" Kathryn inquired.

"Great." he said. "One of the stops on our last mission was Kronos, and I was able to stop by for a quick hello. Miral has gotten so big. Tom says she will be walking soon. Oh, and they both wanted me to say hello to you for them."

"Wonderful" she said with a huge smile on her face. "I need to get in contact with them soon. It has been a while."

Harry nodded. "Oh, and I also got a letter from Chakotay." Kathryn's smile dropped. "He said that he just volunteered for a mission to the Gamma quadrant." Harry noticed the look on her face. "I take it you haven't heard."

Kathryn relaxed and slumped down in her chair. "Good riddance" she said.

Harry was confused. "Why do you say that?"

She leaned forward and rested her elbows on her knees. "It's a long story."

THE END


End file.
